Proud Moment

I just have to share this. I made this. And I'm stinkin proud of it. It's Tarte Tatin. I can't properly pronounce it, but I made a mean one. It's part of a deal I offered to N's school...bake something yummy for someone once a month. This month they chose Tarte Tatin...which had me shakin, but by the 2nd attempt...there was this plate full of fabulous.

My Neighbors Are Cooler Than Yours

Our neighbors went RVing a few weeks ago. The 8-year-old did some nice fishing, and the night they got home the dad showed up on our doorstep with THIS in his hands. He said, "Just cook it on 400 for 45 minutes and it's ready." It was stuffed with rosemary and lemons and all sorts of yummy things. E's not a huge trout fan, so I sat with the whole platter in front of me and just ate and ate and ate. I love our neighbors.

A Day in Golden Gate

It's that time of year again...Dodgeball! We headed over to Golden Gate Park to watch E mow down the competition (there was only minimal mowing) and then headed over to look at the Buffalo.

They lost, and were thrilled. The winner has the host the next year's event (meaning $$$$$), so they like losing.

Searching for the buffalo.

Tatanka! We spotted them being herded in for lunch (or something). They don't really publish their schedule for the day. But, we told the girls it was for lunch. (We loves these days when they believe whatever we say...)

Getting Left Behind

Another set of good friends have gone and left us. This happens way too often. We did have fun getting together for one last hurrah before they claimed the NW as their own. We wish them the very best!

M was abducted by a nearby party and had her face painted. It's her first offical face painting.

Anyone seen Elmo's head? A DIFFERENT nearby party did a nice job of decapitating Elmo in the Pinata phase of the event. N slyly snuck over while no one was looking and claimed the body. Then she hid under the table.

The gang. E's good friends from the Stanford days of long nights in the lab. Such good good people. (Example: M wondered off at one point and a runner in the park stopped to locate the lost child's caretaker--I was watching from a distance--and friend J headed over to claim M and proceeded to walk her over to the park and play with her there. Such a beautiful thing.)

Sweet shoeless M.

SICK!

The girls were sick all weekend. Fevers, runny noses, and lots and lots and lots of cranky pants in the house. This was a peaceful moment of sickliness. Where can I get one of those kids that just SLEEPS all day when they are sick?

All Hallow's Eve

We had a rip roaring Halloween this year...with too many parties to choose from! Mama wanted to do it all, but Papa said no. Such a party pooper...but judging from the meltdown aftermath, it's good the activities were limited. Otherwise, we might not have survived the weekend. (BTW--DST and Halloween just don't mix.)

Friday night...off to the church Halloween Carnival. A little princess and little black cat. For those with any memory, N was insisting the whole family be black cats for about 5 months now. Last week she changed her mind and decided she would be a princess, Papa would be a pirate, M would be a cat and Mama would also be a cat. I'm not sure why M and I did not get upgraded, but black cats are easy...so I wasn't complaining. (But, it does beg the question...Who is in charge around here?)

Halloween night...trick or treating is done! I ditched the costume altogether, N ditched the princess and decided to be a gray cat (wha??), and M was still commanded to be a black cat. Whatever. They made a good haul.

The infamous Shady Lane. A street in a posh little town that really outdoes itself each year. This was the Night of the Dead house or something. They had people popping out of coffins, a giant skull which held the candy (if you dare put your hand in the mouth), live music, plus other stuff...all in the front yard. Another favorite was the Spooky French Renaissance house. But the all-time BEST was the MULTIPLE homes featuring memorials to Michael Jackson (and some included Farrah Fawcett). One home had a movie screen up playing Thriller over and over and over and over...Happy Halloween!

And so it begins.

Today we turned on the Christmas music.